Education experts from East, South and West Africa have adopted a proposal to have regional integrated examinations. The proposal for the regional reforms in the exams system was approved last Friday by experts from sixteen countries after week-long discussions at Kigali Serena Hotel, Kigali. Rwanda is one of the countries that supported the system and is ready for the common exams, officials said. The technical team of Association for Education Assessment for Education in Africa (AEAA) is set to undertake a feasibility study on practical execution of the proposal.Newly elected AEAA president, John Rutayisire said: “Under my leadership I will make sure that our proposal (integrated exams) bears fruits.” Rutayisire, who is also the Executive Secretary of Rwanda National Examination Council (RNEC), said that AEAA member states in South and East African regions are the ones to undertake the examination reforms. Already, AEAA’s West African countries have a uniform examination system called West African Examination Council (WAEC). While closing the conference, Education Minister, Jeanne d’Arc Mujawamariya, declared that time has come for Africa to correct errors in its education systems. “Getting lost teaches you how to read the map. It is your (AEAA) efforts through intensive research in what we educate that will enable us achieve our goal,” she said. She promised government’s support to AEAA mission of an integrated exam system.The conference was attended by delegates from Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, Cameroon, Sierra Leone Gambia, Malawi, Swaziland, South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Liberia and the UK.Ends
